Expert: Kristen Brannock, MPH - 3/26/2004

Question
I am paranoid about infectious disease and seem to have an uncanny way of attracting diseases though not participating in what would be considered risky behaviors?

A couple of years ago I got herpes from sitting on a contaminated toilet seat after receiving a suspicious brownie (probably containing a laxative), I was worried about possible HIV infection and got tested about 10 months later and it came back negative.  Last year I had a skin test for Tb and that came back positive, in an area of little active Tb.

Recently, I went to Mexico to work on an orphanage.  I thought it would be a good way of helping out, but was hesitant, because of my bad luck and fear of infectious disease.  Five of the 13 kids at the orphanage were HIV positive so I tried to be extremely careful.  None the less I cut myself on their sink that they washed soiled laundry in and later in the week I fell on a steel brush that was used to scrape paint off of their concrete porch 36 hours earlier and recieved about 50 punctures.  What is the risk of transmitting HIV in such conditions and would you recommend getting tested?

Answer
First, HIV does not survive well in the environment. It is also not transmitted through urine or feces. So, transmission is not likely from the sink. Likewise, yoy might get tetanus from a steel brush, but not HIV.

Did you see a doctor about your herpes infection and she/he told you it was transmitted via a toilet seat? There is great skepticism that herpes can be transmitted in any other way than from skin to skin contact.